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I think Integration should be though at the same time as a company thinks about making a deal with another company. This means way before they start their due diligence they should think about the best team to start planning integration. This would be slightly before due diligence and during due diligence to make sure they research the correct information that will allow them to take into consideration every factors of a deal.
As a post integration project manager, my preference is that everyone is involved from the moment the idea arises. Those who implement the post integration tasks usually can point out any red flags that many may not see.
It is best to have key members of the integration team involved during Due Diligence. That integration is able to inform the DD team of potential integration risks and associated costs. Additionally, this provides better visibility into the business value drivers of the deal. The integration plans can begin to be drafted at a very high level and be validated and further defined post announcement.
We do not start an acquisition effort without having at least a rough outline of the integration plan developed. This includes timing, resources, and desired outcomes. We also develop a very detailed integration plan once we put in an offer. Integration starts on Day 1 of the acquisition.
If you are on the buy-side I think you need to prepare a first high-level integration concept prior to valuation as this will impact your cost & synergy assessment. In practice, I find this quite difficult as DD is usually a very demanding, high paced process and many involved people do not give this topic priority. The actual planning, I would only start when you have been selected as the counterparty for negotation. Before that it will be difficult to mobilize a team, and you might have created a lot of unnecessary work.
On the sell-side, your seperation concept and plan needs to be made available to potential buyers during DD.I think the integration planning should start alongside the due diligence. The ones doing the due diligence and the integration are often 2 different teams with their own expertise. It would be important for both teams to work together, whilst one discovers information about both companies and what needs to be done, the integration team more aware of what goes wrong at the integration level needs to help them further in asking the right questions and challenging the due diligence.
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